: : : Does any body have any information regarding this skin disorder, searching the Web seems to have drawn a bit of blank, any help would be appreciated from medical professionals or sufferers.

: : : Thanks

: : I too suffer from this condition.I've had it for 2 years now.For me it's airborn allergens that cause my problem.I strongly suggest you find a very good allergist to get information from.Most doctors have no clue as to how to treat this terrible affliction.They only want to give you shots and pills and send you on your way.: : Find out whats causing your problem and then alter your lifestyle according to your needs.Thats what I have to do.It really stinks but its better then itching like a hound dog.There is information on the web. just keep looking for it and you'll find it.Look up asthma and allergy diagnostics. that might help. Well good luck I hope you find relief.Mark

: :I had a very sever case of urticaria, so severe that I was almost forced to quit my job. I had been seeing boarded Allergists. Someone told me that I should see a boarded environmental allergist. The closest one was a Dr.in Denver. I spent a week there. He gave me two different kinds of blood tests, very complete laboratory tests and a four hour interview. He identified every substance I am allergic to. Simply by avoiding these substances I am perfectly well. It was l984, so I have been free of symptoms for l6 years. I was able to continue working, so I paid for my kids college education. Such comprehensive tests provide big surprises. I have used very little ethyl alcohol in my life. I was highly allergic to it. Also the chemical formula for tartrazine, which is FD&C yellow dye number five, is so much like the formula for aspirin that if one is allergic to aspirin he is also allergic to yellow 5. He is also allergic to yellow 6 and yellow l0. I was allergic to certain tree pollens, and to a yeast that causes an intestinal disorder. Environmental allergists keep records of the chemical composition of, in my case, a glue that was used 25 years ago in fastening wall board to office walls. They know the chemicals used and can then test you for sensitivity to those compounds.

: So now grocery shopping consists of reading all of the labels. Food manufacturers are not very smart. Ice cream manufacturers were smart. They removed yellow five from ice cream and soft ice cream bases, and now use other yellow dyes. Same for cheese makers. But pickle makers, who did not have yellow 5 in pickles before, started putting it in pickles. Yellow dye makes the pickles look yellow green like young cucumbers. All mature cucumbers look dark green, but the public doesnot know this. Pickles made in India and Germany do not have yellow 5 in them. They think that yellow 5 is such a good thing that many bakers put it in all sweet rolls, etc. It is time to patronize stores who are very conscious of such things. When we dine out, I take with me a small bottle of a food allergy medicine in the event that I am served something that contains yellow 5. That will save me from going to the nearest emergency room. Also, I became sensitized to cigarette smoke years ago at the University I attended. They allowed smoking in classrooms. That was followed by dust and diesel exhaust smoke sensitivity, so now I can travel on a freeway only in a car that has a filter on it that filters out such pollutants.This occurred even though I never smoked tobacco. Incidentally, I have the same allergies that my father had.

: If you think I might help you further, reply with your questions. Woody